Public statement of concern about President Trump’s vulgar statement about Africa
By the African community in Sacramento
January 19, 2018
This week, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a great man whose message of peace, justice and courage changed the course of history. A man whose proud and deep ancestral roots spring from the fertile shores of the Nile, Niger, Congo and Zambezi rivers of Africa.
However, it is unfortunate that in this very week when people of goodwill all over the world pause to reflect and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the United States of America President Donald J. Trump chose to debase our humanity as Africans, including Haitians, with the vulgarity as attributed to him that is not worthy of a repeat in this document. We stand today, and with respect to the office of the presidency, to reject and condemn without reservation the president’s characterization of African nations, as widely condemned by African governments and many others in the Americas and around the world. It is our conviction that his choice of words amounts to hate speech and has no place in any civil discourse. History reminds us that the world’s most horrific crimes always start with weaponized words and statements like these have no place in a civilized world or just leadership. When people are characterized as sub-human, it becomes too easy and inciting to subject them to sub-human treatment.
The African continent has withstood untold challenges through the course of human history, and remains the cradle of humanity. Our people were extracted against their will and enslaved for centuries in far regions of the world where they built today’s flourishing economies from the bend of their backs and the sweat of their brows, including the USA. We stand today to declare to all who care to listen that Africa and her more than a billion people and over 20 % of the world’s population will not be characterized as sub-human; this is very offensive. Our ancestors built the ancient pyramids of Egypt and the Sankore University in Timbuktu, built over 400 years before the American independence, and produced ancient texts that became roadmaps to science, mathematics and astronomy. Indeed, the history of the American greatness will be incomplete without Africa and her resilient peoples.
Our sons and daughters across the world continue to distinguish themselves in all fields of human endeavor. African immigrants contribute to the development of the country economically. Among the African immigrants in the United States are men and women of the Military, Medical Doctors, Pharmacists, First Responders, Lawyers, Judges, Legislators, Engineers, Business owners, Entrepreneurs, Innovators Investors, College/University Professors, Nurses, Teachers, and other careered persons who work hard and pay their taxes as well as support their families and obey the law. Failure to acknowledge these facts is unfortunate and sad. With 22 Nobel Laureates, 7 female presidents, several female Chief Justices, 4 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, a young and vibrant population; Africa’s time has come. We stand today to claim and affirm our rightful place of pride in this long journey of human existence and the promise of a greater future.
This most recent vulgar characterization of Africa(including her Diaspora) by the president, coupled with previous adverse or pejorative pronouncements against other immigrants has the real potential to incite verbal or physical violence against African immigrants in the USA by persons who may act on the troubling remark or harbor racial animus.
Accordingly, we call on our elected officials, peace officers, educators, employers, and community leaders to ensure the protection of the human and civil rights of our people, especially from any form of hate crime that may result from the president’s hurtful speech. Further, we ask people in our communities to go about their daily lives without fear but remain vigilant, and to immediately report any incidents to the law enforcement authorities.
We thank all people of conscience who have spoken publicly against this hate speech. Your courage to stand with us and humanity puts you on the right side of history and restores our faith in human decency. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said at a 1965 public address at Hunter College in New York City on Human Rights Day, "The brotherhood of man is not confined within a narrow, limited circle of select people. It is felt everywhere in the world; it is an international sentiment of surpassing strength. Because this is true, when men of good will finally unite, they will be invincible.”
We affirm our belief in the great African tradition of Ubuntu. We remain committed to the use of dialogue in the quest for mutual understanding and respect in our diverse society.
In Peace and Solidarity!
Sacramento Africa Peace Committee
Friends of Rwanda Association
Sacramento Association of Nigerians
Association of Citizens and Friends of Liberia
Sierra Leone Humanitarian Project
Ushirika Kenya Association
Sacramento- Uganda Community
Angolan community of Sacramento